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GENERAL ALUMNI GIFTS 
TO YALE 


by 
SAMUEL R. BETTS 


(Reprinted from the Book of the Yale Pageant) 








NEW HAVEN 
1916 











COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY YALE UNIVERSITY ‘PRESS 


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OCT 10 1916 


GENERAL ALUMNI GIFTS TO YALE 


By 
SAMUEL R. BETTS 


The gifts to Yale by her alumni and friends, if stated in any 
detail, would form a most interesting history, from that first gift 
of books by the Founders, and the benefactions of Elihu Yale and 
Bishop Berkeley, down to the subscription for equipment of the 
present Yale Battery. But the scope of this article is limited to 
gifts to the Corporation for which the entire body of Alumni 
have been invited to subscribe, and resulting in the establishment 
of permanent funds whose income is substantially unrestricted, 
or in buildings for University use. It includes also gifts which 
may be spent immediately as income, but are not designated for 
specific purposes. The Alumni funds or gifts of this character 
are five in number, and will be considered in chronological order. 

First, the “Centum Miti1a Funp,” so called because of 
the provision that “No subscription shall be obligatory, unless 
the sum of at least One Hundred Thousand Dollars shall be sub- 
scribed, before the first day of December, A. D. 1832.” Each 
subscriber could designate the object to which his subscription 
should be applied, but otherwise payments were to be held as a 
permanent fund, of which the income only should be appropriated 
to the support of the Academical Department. The Yale Treas- 
urer’s Report refers to this as an invested fund of $82,950, 


Established in 1832 from subscriptions received in the first movement 
for raising a large amount for general endowment. Of the $100,000.00 
subscribed the above amount was given on condition that the Corpora- 
tion should hold the amount and use the income only for the general 
purposes of Yale College. The balance has been distributed among 
the various departments for which it was subscribed. 


4 THE BOOK OF THE YALE PAGEANT 





Subscriptions ranged from one of $4, up to three of $5,000 each. 
The total subscription aggregated $105,938 from 606 individuals, 
many of them not graduates of Yale. 

Second, the so-called “Funp oF 1854,” listed in the Treas- 
urer’s Report at $69,601.10, and there described as 


Established November 7th, 1854, by subscriptions to the second gen- 
eral movement for raising money for endowment. The amount sub- 
scribed was $106,390.92 and the difference between the amount shown 
above and this sum was distributed to the departments or objects speci- 
fied by the donors. Income used for general purposes. 


The appeal for this fund appears in a printed pamphlet dated 
New Haven, January 25, 1853, and is signed by Theodore D. 
Woolsey and Jeremiah Day, for the Corporation, and Benjamin 
Silliman, Chauncey A. Goodrich, and Denison Olmsted, for the 
Faculty. It was also specially endorsed by an influential New 
York committee, including Daniel Lord, 1814, William Adams, 
1827, and William M. Evarts, 1837, and by resolution at the Yale 
Alumni meeting at Commencement, July, 1853. It is interesting 
to note that the leading basis of this appeal was the inadequate 
salaries of the instructors in the College, and that a contribution 
of $150,000 to the permanent funds of the College was asked. 
It was stated that the price of tuition, then $39 per annum, would 
necessarily be raised unless the desired fund was established. 
The following paragraph from this pamphlet is especially sig- 
nificant: 


The increase of the price of tuition to anything near its cost, would 
drive from the College a very desirable class of students—those whose 
means are limited, but whose industrious habits and sound morals exert 
the most healthful influence. The College would become a college for 
the sons of the rich, to the exclusion of the sons of the middling classes, 
who have always been the reliance of the Institution, from their steadi- 
ness of character, their diligence in study, and their moral and religious 
worth. A College supported by the sons of the rich, it has been well 
remarked, will very soon become a place where the rich will not dare 
to send their sons. 


GENERAL ALUMNI GIFTS TO YALE 5 


The Treasurer’s figures show that the full amount hoped for 
was not secured, in spite of the eloquent appeal and influential 
signers. 

Third, the “WootszEy MEmoriIAL Funp.” This is a Uni- 
versity fund, as distinguished from the two previously mentioned 
Yale College funds. It is listed at $172,451.97 in the Treasurer’s 
Report, and described as 


Established August Ist, 1873, by gifts from Alumni and Friends of 
the College under a resolution adopted at the meeting of the Alumni, in 
New Haven, July 13th, 1871, as a memorial of the work of Theodore 
Dwight Woolsey, Yale College 1820, President from 1846 to 1871. 
Income used for general purposes. 


Committees of graduates representing different classes and 
different sections of the country were constituted, with permanent 
treasurer and secretary, and a thorough canvass was made of all 
graduates, including others who were friends of Yale. The 
amount obtained was not as large as hoped for, but after a can- 
vass lasting two years, the subscription was closed and the fund 
established. This was the first University fund resulting from 
general Alumni subscription, and it anticipated by nearly four- 
teen years the legal designation of “Yale University.” 


Fourth, “THE BICENTENNIAL Funp.” Although the 
Treasurer’s Report does not show any invested fund under 
this name, it is considered proper to refer to the large subscrip- 
tions from Alumni and friends of the University made in connec- 
tion with the Bicentennial Celebration in 1901, and amounting to 
$1,102,859.23. This sum was applied toward the cost of the 
so-called Bicentennial Buildings, including Woolsey Hall, Memo- 
rial Hall, and University Dining Hall. These Bicentennial funds 
were secured by appeals to all who had ever been connected with 
the University in any department, as well as to friends of the 
University. A representative finance committee was appointed, 
together with special committees and agents in different locali- 
ties, departments, and classes. 


6 THE BOOK OF THE YALE PAGEANT 





Fifth, the “YALE ALuMNI UNIvERsITy Funp.” In June, 
1890, the Corporation established the “Alumni University 
Fund” in response to resolutions of the New York alumni, and 
at Commencement of that year there was organized an associa- 
tion “to be known as ‘The Alumni University Fund Association,’ 
to be managed by nine Directors, alumni of Yale, appointed by 
the President of the University.” Everyone who has been a stu- 
dent in any School of the University is invited to join the Asso- 
ciation by contributing to the Fund, and any contribution is sufh- 
cient qualification for membership. The fundamental object of 
the Association is to induce universal annual giving, and to 
encourage gifts of any size, however small, for general University 
use. 

In the work of the Alumni Fund Association each graduating 
class is now represented by a Class Agent, appointed by the Direc- 
tors of the Fund. Gifts may be either unrestricted or for addi- 
tion to the Principal Fund. The Directors may award the entire 
unrestricted amount to be used as University Income, and may 
suggest the application thereof. For the last five years, at their 
request, it has been applied to increased salaries for the teaching 
force. Legacies, of which a number have been received, are 
added to the Principal Fund, as memorials to the donors. The 
Alumni Fund differs from all other funds of the University. It 
is controlled by Directors chosen from the graduates instead of 
by the University authorities alone, it increases every year, and it 
is unrestricted. Its principal is a part of the University endow- 
ment. The gifts from income of the Fund to University income 
are not confined to specific purposes. 

For the first year of its existence, ending June, 1891, the Asso- 
ciation reported 385 members and total “cash received into the 
Fund, $11,015.08.” Compare with this the report for the year 
ending June 30, 1916, showing more than 4,000 contributors, 
and total gross receipts of $146,280.53 of which $70,000.00 was 


appropriated as income, and $72,746.63 was added to principal 
fund. 


GENERAL ALUMNI GIFTS TO YALE 7 


The receipts from the inauguration of the Fund, in 1890, to 
June 30, 1916, reached the grand total of $1,600,222.63, of which 
$870,213.57 remains as principal fund, and $702,137.89, has been 
given the University for annual income, the total expenses of 
management being only $27,871.17. 

With the experience of the past twenty-five years as a guide, 
and the success already attained, and the constant introduction 
of more efficient methods of interesting Yale men, there is con- 
fidence on the part of those who have inaugurated and carried 
forward this Alumni Fund that far greater results will be 
obtained in the future. cs 





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